To Love, To Honor, and To Cherish…

On August 19, 1972, in a little United Methodist Church in Fairmont, North Carolina, John Neal Salter, Jr. married the tall and lovely Carolyn Marie Staton.

My parents.

(But they weren’t my parents then. I came along later. Like more than 5 years later.)

(And yes, for those of you that saw my tweets earlier on Twitter about their anniversary, I’m sorry. Math has never been a strength for me, okay?)

And in honor of my parents and in celebration of their anniversary, I decided to cull my albums, files, and boxes to show you just a slice of their life together. My criteria for which pictures I chose were that they had to be pictures that were JUST my two parents, because hey, I think when they’re celebrating their anniversary, they deserve a few minutes alone together. Honestly, that was a difficult standard to meet. But alas, here we go with thirty-something years of Neal and Carolyn:

My Mom was a basketball player and tennis player. Not so much a girlie-girl. A bit of a tom-boy, I guess you’d say. And rumor has it that their wedding day was the first time my Dad had ever seen my Mom’s legs because she always wore jeans. But I guess he domesticated her a little after they married because here she is in a skirt. Nice legs, Mom!

Oh, look! Mom in another dress! This one was in May of ’76. This was just before my brother came along in February of ’77. Nice legs, Mom! And for the record, I’ve never seen my Dad’s hair that long.

1983. I was five. Chris was six. And my Mom (again in a dress) is wearing BLUE EYE SHADOW. (Oh, Mom…) Daddy, I don’t remember you wearing three-piece suits…

1986. I picked this picture because several years ago at their 30th wedding anniversary party, my Dad displayed the family portrait from this set. In that picture, which I consider the worst picture I’ve ever taken, I had the worst chopped-up haircut of all time. And practically no teeth. But Dad put it out at the party for all of our friends to LAUGH AT. So, I couldn’t resist throwing this one in (but not the one of me with bad hair and no teeth.)

My parents in the late-90’s. My brother bought this Methodist College Mom shirt for my Mom during his semester there in ’96. So, this might be late ’96 or early ’97. Anyway, I think my Mom’s lookin’ pretty great here. What do y’all think?

Awwww! A tender moment during Thanksgiving at my Uncle Rick, Aunt Leigh, and cousin Ryan’s house. I’d say this was early 2000’s.

On their 30th wedding anniversary, my Dad, a few close friends, and I cooked up a surprise anniversary party for Mama. She had NO IDEA! And when she walked in and saw her Mom, her siblings, and her nieces, I thought for a second that she was going to faint! And then, she and Daddy cut the cake. HOW CUTE ARE THEY?!

So now, I’m only missing a picture of them in the present. The problem is, I don’t have one of them TOGETHER. We’re gonna have to do something about that…

Happy Anniversary, Mama and Daddy! I’m glad you found each other. I’m glad you love each other and enjoy each other. And I look forward to watching you grow very, very old together. We’ll have weddings. Maybe some grandkids. A handful of fights. And a lot of hugs. I wouldn’t miss any of it for the world!